KAY HAGAN

North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Ted Budd is leaning into his support for abortion restrictions and his allegiance to former President Donald Trump as Democrats fight for an elusive victory in the Southern swing state.

When Ted Budd won a surprise endorsement from former President Donald Trump last year, he was a little-known congressman running for a Senate seat in North Carolina against some of the state’s most recognizable Republicans, including a former governor.

FILE - In a May 2006 file photo, Senate leader Marc Basnight speaks on the Senate floor at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. Basnight died Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, at age 73. Despite humble beginnings and little formal education, Basnight rose through state politics to serve in the Senate for 26 years. His nine two-year terms as Senate president pro tempore made him the longest-serving head of a legislative body in North Carolina history. While Senate leader, GOP senators complained Basnight had consolidated too much power. Bob Jordan died in February, while Sen. Tony Rand, who was majority leader and rules committee chairman under Basnight, died in May.

FILE - In this March 2, 2020 file photo, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks during a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Charlotte, N.C. Tillis is calibrating his ties to Trump as he tries to find the right path for reelection in a closely divided state. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn, File)

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, Trump said, has “been by my side!”But at that moment, Tillis wasn’t. Trump is holding a rally in Fayetteville, his fourth event in the battleground state in as many weeks, on Saturday. Voters most likely to back the president get campaign materials highlighting Tillis’ support for Trump’s policies. North Carolina remains among a dozen states without expansion — an issue that Cunningham used to criticize Tillis during the debate. Unaffiliated Charlotte voter Don Jonas, 53, said this week he still considers himself a persuadable voter in the Senate race.